SAN DIEGO – Sailors
and Marines loaded and stored more than 2 million pounds of supplies,
vehicles and weapons aboard three amphibious ships here in port at Naval
Base San Diego, June 24, kicking off the intermediate phase of pre-deployment
training for the Bonhomme Richard Amphibious Ready Group (ARG).

In
the upcoming weeks, the Bonhomme Richard ARG and the embarked 11th Marine Expeditionary
Unit (MEU) will work side-by-side to complete PHIBRON/MEU Integration
Training (PMINT), the first of three at-sea training evolutions before
the start of a scheduled deployment.

“We
learned a lot of lessons during the on-load planning process but more
importantly we built ARG/MEU team relationships which will continue to
strengthen throughout the work-up process,” said Capt. Rodney Clark, the ARG commander.

More than 100 crewmembers and MEU
landing support personnel worked 30 hours over the course of three days to move
ammunition and equipment, including 68-ton M-1A1 main battle tanks. 11th
MEU Marines traveled 50 miles from their headquarters located north of San Diego at CampPendleton.

Most of the gear stored on Cleveland and Rushmore
was driven across metal ramps wedged between the pier and the ships’ stern
gates and capable of withstanding 70-ton loads, according to Green. However, Bonhomme
Richard relied on landing craft units (LCUs) – a type of
boat used by amphibious forces to transport equipment and troops ashore – to form a stern-gate marriage in
order to on-load cargo items too large to fit in its narrower port-side loading
entrance.

“A stern-gate marriage is when the LCU
comes to the stern ramp and is chained into place. The cargo is then moved
across a [tire rubber articulated mover] and onto the ship,” Green explained.

Medium-sized M-198 155m field artillery
howitzers and high performance, all-terrain vehicles called Medium Tactical
Vehicle Replacements (MTVRs) were some of the items ferried from Naval Base
Coronado across San Diego Bay on LCUs and loaded onto Bonhomme Richard.

“It
takes months of planning and coordination by dedicated Sailors and Marines to
safely execute this type of event,” said Clark. “It
takes many doing their individual duties professionally which make up the sum
of a flawless on-load.”

“The
ARG/MEU team is built through individuals and these relationships will be key in
the success of all of our operations,” said Clark.

The upcoming training evolutions enable
the ARG/MEU team to execute a range of operations during deployment to include
security cooperation and theatre engagement – missions that help maintain
freedom of the seas and prevent war; the hallmarks of the new maritime strategy
endorsed by all three sea services in 2007.